Time for talks with North Korea over: Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses the 72nd UN General Assembly in New York on September 20, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says time for talks with North Korea has come to an end, calling for exerting "pressure" on Pyongyang over its missile and nuclear programs.

"There is not much time left" to engage with North Korea, Abe said while addressing the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

Abe added that the global community has done as much as it could to reach a negotiated settlement with Pyongyang. “What is needed to do is not dialogue, but pressure," he added.

"Again and again, attempts to resolve issues through dialogue have all come to naught. In what hope of success are we now repeating the very same failure a third time?" he noted.

Abe further called for the strict implementation of UN sanctions against Pyongyang, the latest round of which includes a ban on the North’s textile exports and an embargo on work permits for the country’s guest workers.